


Kappa Capers

by FrenchRoast



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Kappa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-21
Updated: 2016-05-21
Packaged: 2018-06-09 17:30:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6916678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrenchRoast/pseuds/FrenchRoast
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gift to moonlight91 for the Mantis Menagerie exchange, who prompted a water creature who does pranks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kappa Capers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Moonlight91](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlight91/gifts).



The hunt for the Yaoguai was taking longer than Belle thought it would. On the fifth day, she reached a river that flowed past the mountain the Yaoguai was supposed to inhabit, but quickly realized she were at least another day’s walk from the mountain itself.

“At least I know I’m going the right way,” Belle said as she set up camp that fifth night. In her search for dry wood for a fire, she wandered away from the riverside. She also failed to notice the green, humanoid creature with a shell on its back that crept up to her camp once she was preoccupied. The Kappa rifled through her things, picking up books, sniffing her satchel as it hunted for its favorite food: cucumbers.

Sadly, there were none. Disappointed, the creature moaned as it went back through everything, careful to replace things just as they had been, minus one thing, which it clutched in its webby palm.

Leaves that had fallen to the ground and dried crunched as Belle returned to camp, and the Kappa snuck away, back to the river it lived in. It kept watch as she went about making a fire. The Kappa had never seen a lone female traveling before, and she fascinated him. He continued watching. Waiting. Finally, Belle picked up the book she’d bought in the shop next to the pub where her quest had started; she was nearly finished, only a couple of pages left to read. She turned the penultimate page and saw the ragged edge where the last page had been torn out.

“What?! Where’s the--how am I going to find out what happened to the genie?!”

The Kappa giggled at her frustration. This girl would be a lot of fun.

Annoyed, Belle eventually picked up the book about the Yaoguai and read from it, but she was also exhausted from days of walking. When the Kappa saw she had fallen sound asleep, it had another prank it wanted to try.

The Kappa walked up to the campsite carefully and noted where each object was. Then it began to carry each item across to the other side of the river. Once the entire campsite had been recreated on the other side of the river (but now facing the opposite direction), the Kappa carefully carried the sleeping Belle across as well, and laid her back into her campsite on the other side. He lingered over her, smelling her hair. She smelled clean, which reminded him of fresh cucumbers though there were none around. He briefly considered eating her, but decided he would rather watch his prank.

Then, for good measure, the Kappa stuffed her boots with cotton it had found in a field not far away and stuffed into its shell weeks ago. He returned to the river afterwards.

It took most of the next day before Belle realized she’d somehow been walking west instead of east, when she thought about how nice it was that the sun finally wasn’t in her face that afternoon. She turned around, and now, instead of arriving at the Yaoguai’s mountain, she was nearly two days away. There was nothing Belle could do but retrace an entire day’s trek tomorrow, in boots that had begun to feel too small.

The Kappa laughed itself so silly that night that the creature nearly drowned itself in the river.

The next morning Belle was careful to check the sun’s location before moving on. She covered her fire with some dirt, and as she reached to close her pack and hoist it onto her back, she saw a snake poised to strike and she jumped back, screaming. The snake didn’t move, and upon closer inspection, it was obvious the snake was dead. It had bite marks on it, but what creature would bite a snake and kill it, only to leave it in someone’s campsite?

“Okay, whoever you are, I see what you’re doing,” Belle said. She wasn’t sure who she was talking to, though she assumed it was a sprite or some sort of water fae. “That wasn’t funny. More people could’ve died because I haven’t been able to hunt down the Yaoguai.” She continued onward after that, going towards the mountain rather than away from it, but checking her direction every so often just to be sure she hadn’t been turned around without realizing it. It was much harder going that day, and as Belle came upon her old campsite, she nearly collapsed from exertion.

Hunting for a fresh water skein, she opened her pack to find that the entire bottom of it was filled with pebbles and rocks.

“No wonder it felt heavier,” Belle remarked before letting loose a string of curses aimed in the general direction of all magical creatures. After she’d worn out two languages’ worth of curses, Belle sat down, and as she removed her boots, a piece of the cotton came out. She pulled the rest from her boots and sat stewing briefly before she put the boots back on. She stood and immediately left to gather wood for yet another campfire.

The Kappa, who had been watching from behind a rock, knew this was the perfect opportunity for another prank, and so he darted back into her camp. He looked around for what to do; he’d begun to like this girl, despite all the harsh words she’d flung in his general direction. The Kappa hadn’t realized she was hunting a Yaoguai. He would prank her once more, then let her go on her way. He wanted nothing to do with a Yaoguai. He set to work.

But then, unbeknownst to the Kappa, Belle abruptly stopped gathering firewood and returned to her camp. Now it was she who was spying on the Kappa. She saw the shell and the green scales and had an idea of what creature it was, but wasn’t sure until she saw the water-filled indention in the top of its head. Then she knew what to do. She stepped into the camp and the Kappa stopped digging the hole he’d almost finished. He looked at her.

Belle made a long, low bow.

Bound by his need to be polite, the Kappa shivered in fear, but he could not resist. He must bow back! But he would lose all the water kept in his head, and with it, his power.

He bowed back, and as he feared, the water spilled and he could no longer hold himself up on land. He dropped into the hole, powerless and utterly helpless. Belle walked up to the Kappa, and stood over him.

“Serves you right for all of these pranks,” she scolded. “You know, people could’ve died because you delayed me.” Belle was furious, but also a little triumphant. She’d incapacitated a Kappa, all on her own.

She was also a little terrified that the Kappa had been following her for a few days now. She should’ve stayed further from the river.

In the hole, the Kappa whimpered piteously. His life force was draining; he’d been out of the water too long to go without it, and he would never be able to climb out of the hole. His scales began to turn grayish as his life ebbed.

Belle noticed the change in color and realized what was happening. “I can bring you water, but you’ll have to make a deal with me,” she said.

The Kappa spoke. “I will pledge whatever oath you require.”

At this, Belle ran to the river and retrieved a skein full of cool water. She held it above the Kappa, ready to pour onto his head. “You swear you will never prank me or any other traveler again, you will guide me safely to the Yaoguai’s mountain, and you will help those in need without requiring a reward. Swear it, and I’ll give you the water.”

“I swear or my name isn't Rumplestiltskin,” the Kappa agreed. Belle poured the water over his head, and he instantly turned his normal blue-green color, restored to power...yet powerless before this woman who could have left him to die, yet chose not to.

He might be a monster himself, but he would help her defeat the monster she was tracking. And after that, any others that came her way.

 

 

 


End file.
